New Zealand team up to encourage Māori language use via Fortnite

Te Wānanga o Aotearoa (TWoA) gamers will pit their reo Māori skills alongside the best players in New Zealand in an LPL “Night Squad” broadcast of the world’s most popular video game, Fortnite.

TWoA is partnering with LPL to see more reo Māori (New Zealand Māori language) incorporated into their live Fortnite broadcast. It’s all a part of Mahuru Māori and Te Wiki o te Reo Māori (Māori language week).

Mahuru Māori started at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa in 2014 as a way of normalising te reo Māori in everyday life. It was originally an initiative for fluent speakers of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa. But, has since grown to include the public and all levels of proficiency.

The challenge

The challenge for the month, or for a selected time period, is that Māori is used for all forms of communication. And, this year more than 1,000 people will speak only in Māori during September.

MC Amy Potter and New Zealand professional Fortnite player Twizz will learn the reo Māori equivalent of popular Fortnite multiplayer phrases and words. They’ll then test their newly-acquired reo Māori skills as part of a team of four that goes to war in a livestreamed 100-player Fortnite battle royale.

The idea for this war of words stems from a Te Wānanga o Aotearoa reo Māori translation of the Fortnite map earlier this year.

“Mahuru Māori and Te Wiki o te Reo Māori is about normalising te reo Māori. We want to see people incorporating more te reo Māori in their lives – and video games are a big part of many peoples’ lives,”

Viewers will be able to download Fortnite te reo Māori rauemi (resource packs) from mahurumaori.com/fortnite.

The rauemi will contain an updated Fortnite map and item translations and the game’s most-commonly used phrases and statements.

Watch the livestream

The LPL stream will be streaming live from 7pm, September 12 at www.twitch.tv/letsplaylive.
Te Wānanga o Aotearoa is New Zealand’s second-largest tertiary education provider with more than 80 sites throughout the country.

LPL is New Zealand and Australia’s leading esports media broadcaster. They work with popular titles such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, NBA 2K18 and Project CARS 2. These titles are publicised live on NZ broadcasting channels including SKY Sport and Māori Television.

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